Emergence
by Sophie Marie Bennett
Summary: It's graduation day for Rose Granger-Weasley. With her friends, family and potential love interests in attendance, it's a joyous day - until an event happens that will alter the course of Rose's future forever. How will she survive the return of Death Eaters that are determined to make her family pay for their incarceration?


**EMERGENCE**

 **Rated T: coarse language, violence**

 **Chapter One**

At the beginning of the ceremony, Headmistress McGonagall had moved to stand behind a white podium, not unlike the golden one in the Great Hall. The professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat behind the podium on chairs that were draped in black banners embroidered with a silver "H". The benches that lined the Great Hall tables had been brought onto the grounds so that the graduating class could sit in four rows, based on their houses firstly and then alphabetically arranged by their last name. Rose Granger-Weasley had sat in the front row with her fellow classmates that represented Gryffindor house. As the other students from the other houses filed in behind her onto their benches, she could hear the low voices and snickers of her cousin Albus Potter coming from the last row. She turned around and saw that her cousin was seated beside Scorpius Malfoy, which was fitting as they were best mates. It seems that Scorpius had made a joke because Albus appeared to be trying to hold in his laughter. Rose raised an eyebrow at her cousin in questioning but said nothing; the Potter youth grinned and gave her a small wave, composed for now. Rose then averted her gaze over to Scorpius Malfoy and found that he was already looking at her. Their eyes met and he smirked and gave her a small wave of his own. Rose returned with a little grin but forced herself to focus her attention back to the front. Though Scorpius had insisted many times over the past year to take her out, she had to be firm with herself. A potential future in medicine as a Healer was what she wanted and anything to take her away from that would be an unnecessary distraction.

The chairs provided for the parents matched the ones for the professors; the banners fluttered softly against the backs of the chairs as a soft breeze swept across the Hogwarts grounds and the clouds passed to allow the warm sun rays to shine. A few of the parents had cast their Patronus charms in honour of the happy occasion. Rose spotted the Patronus of her uncle, Harry; a magnificent glowing white stag that appeared to be 'grazing' on the grass in a nearby clearing on the grounds. She could also see the ones of her father, Ron, and her mother, Hermione; a terrier chased an otter around through the air, the terrier happily wagging his tail. The otter chattered animatedly and they both came to rest floating in the air together, contented to sit beside one another. Rose turned around to see if she could spot her parents and easily found them amongst the crowd after searching for the hair that matched her own. Her dad gave her a wide grin and a thumbs-up while her mom smiled; Hermione's head moved to the side to rest on top of Ron's shoulder. Rose could see that her mom already had tissues folded in one hand, readily available in case she started to cry.

When everyone was settled, McGonagall used the Sonorus charm so that everyone could hear her voice. She then began to speak.

"Welcome to the students, faculty and family. For those of you who have only corresponded with me about your children via owls, my name is Minerva McGonagall and I am Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is my honour to be speaking in front of all of you on behalf of our graduating students. These students achieved much greatness this year, both academically and athletically. Our students had the highest rated NEWT levels in the past thirty years and our Hufflepuff Quidditch team, made up almost entirely by members of this year's graduating class, not only won every match they played this year and won the Hogwarts Cup -"

Here, a few of the Hufflepuff seventh years cheered and McGonagall beamed.

" - They also broke records. We have a new record for how many saves a Keeper has made during a match; how many Bludgers were successfully defended during a match and a new record set by their Seeker, Jasmine Thomas, who caught the Snitch in 10.3 seconds - this record was previously held by one of our attending parents this evening."

McGonagall looked up from her paper and over the rim of her spectacles to meet the gaze of Harry Potter and gave him a knowing grin; the wizard had the decency to look embarrassed and settled with an appreciative head nod, not wanting to the attention to be on him. Some parents in the audience clapped respectfully while others cheered, remembering their times at Hogwarts and seeing Harry play. Ron nudged the arm of his best friend and seemed to murmur something about getting beat by a seventeen-year-old. Harry's response was to roll his eyes as immediate company surrounding the two tittered at Ron's joke. McGonagall cleared her throat and attention immediately focused back on her.

"I would also like to note that this year's graduating class is also the most diverse in terms of where their talents lie. I say this in the context of what subjects were strongest. In most years, the students of Hogwarts excel the most in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration or Potions. This year, the students achieved high levels in almost every subject; I can guarantee that we will have a future Muggle Affairs representative of the Ministry of Magic in our graduating class today, along with the next great Magizoologist - we may also have our future Potions, Charms and Divination professors amongst this group of students."

A pause to allow the parents to clap for their children and then the Headmistress pressed on. She had to swallow before she spoke and it appeared she was getting emotional. She smiled although her voice trembled.

"I would just like to leave you with this. It is no secret that I have been a member of the Hogwarts faculty for a long time; I have seen many professors come and go through these walls and have thanked Merlin every day that I have been given the opportunity to teach so many young minds throughout my years at this school. But it is time for me to retire. I have loved having these experiences as both a professor and Headmistress but let's face it, I'm getting a little old." Here, she paused and fixed her gaze on Ron Weasley, who looked away sheepishly. Both were smiling.

"So, let's get another round of applause for this year's graduates as I invite our Head Girl, Rose Granger-Weasley, up to the podium to say a few words," McGonagall concluded. The parents responded with thunderous applause and cheers for their former professor as Rose lifted from her seat and walked toward the podium. She paused to wrap her Headmistress in a warm hug; the elderly witch was crying with tear tracks already visible upon her cheeks.

"You will do great things," McGonagall whispered in her ear. "You all will, of that you can be sure." They released each other and McGonagall took her seat behind the podium on a chair as Rose moved to stand behind the podium.

"There's nothing more I can really say that our dear Headmistress hasn't said already," she said before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "I am so proud of all of my fellow classmates and I'm so lucky that I get to graduate with my cousin." From his spot amongst the graduates, Albus met her gaze and chuckled as a few eyes turned to him. "Albus and I have always been joined at the hip – some could say we were even closer to each other than to our own siblings. At school, while we always seemed to have a shared identity – where he went, I would go. To have him adventure into the world and knowing I can't follow is going to feel strange. However, I'm beyond excited for what the future holds for the both of us as well as the rest of my graduating class. I would like us all to raise our wands and send sparks into the air as a toast to one another – but remember our time here, because it's what made us who we are today."

Rose stepped down from the podium as her fellow graduates raised their wands. With a cry of glee in unison, sparks in varying colours shot from the tips of their wands into the air and exploded into fireworks high above the castle. The students gasped, cheered and marveled at the twinkling in the sunny sky with murmurs of appreciation coming from the parents attending. Even the professors looked pleased.

Headmistress McGonagall retook the podium and smiled out at the crowd. "I will begin to call the names of the graduating students, by order of Houses. If you could please hold your applause until the end, that would be appreciated." The elderly witch summoned the Gryffindor graduates up to the podium and began to address them one-by one. It was merely a formality for parents to be able to capture the moment via enchanted camera as the witches and wizards were mailed their graduation certifications a few weeks after the ceremony. When she called Rose's name, the young witch blushed furiously as she heard, "That's my little girl!", from the crowd. She turned and saw that her father was standing up, pointing up at the podium, with the biggest grin across his face. She rolled her eyes but she smiled in response. While she posed for a picture for her mother's camera, she watched McGonagall smirk at her father.

"I see that Mr. Weasley still doesn't listen to instructions," she chided. The crowd chuckled and the proud father returned to his seat. As Rose descended from the podium, she spotted the otter Patronus that belonged to her mother from the corner of her eye. It wasn't resting beside the terrier Patronus of her father, but stood on its hind legs. It appeared to sniff the air and it was looking around, trying to spot something. It chattered just as there was a great _bang_ from across the grounds. The gathered crowed turned to look in the direction of the front gates to Hogwarts – dark cloaked figures were appearing just on the other side, as if out of thin air. They had managed to break the protective barriers on the gates and were trying to get into the grounds.

"What are they?" she heard herself asking. McGonagall cursed under her breath and pushed Rose behind her.

"Death Eaters," she replied, her voice still casting out over the crowd due to the Sonorus Charm. "Everyone moves inside, members of the Order must follow me! Quickly!" She showed no fear but her mouth was set into a hard line.

Death Eaters flew through the sky in plumes of black smoke and burst through the opened gates. Rose felt herself get jostled away from McGonagall as students began to push one another, not towards the castle, but towards their parents. People were forced together as they scrambled to find their loved ones. She turned her head in the location of where her parents had been sitting but didn't see them anymore. She pulled out her wand from the pocket of her black robes and her eyes searched the skies.

Arms were around from behind and the young witch screamed in shock. Her body was spun around and it was her father moving her along towards the castle with her mother at his side, his body shielding hers. "Move, Rose," he ordered, his eyes set on the front doors of the castle. "Quickly now, shove on."

With the hand that wasn't brandishing her wand, Rose reached for her mother, who took her hand and held it tight. "Dad, what's going on?" Rose asked quickly as she fought to keep pace with her parents. "Dad?!"

"Our guess is that they figured most of the Ministry's Aurors are here, the current Minister for Magic -," Hermione answered for her husband. "- Former enemies who were responsible for the deaths of their leader, their comrades and their incarcerations. We made it a perfect target, we all had our guard down."

They raced up the steps of the castle now and Rose was able to shake herself from her father's grip. "Dad, stop it! I want to fight! I don't want to be holed up hiding in the castle!"

"Rose, now is not the time to argue with me," Ron replied. His expression was wild, Rose had never seen him like this. "Go into the castle. Get down into the dungeons if you can and stay there. We will come for you when it's safe." More people pushed past as they were all scrambling into the castle and she found it a bit difficult to stand stagnant facing her parents.

"What about Hugo?" she demanded. "Where is he? What about James? What about Lily?" The graduation ceremony had only allowed for parents of the graduates to come to make the occasion more special and significant for the graduates; a moment where attention was not shared amongst siblings. Rose feared that her brother and cousins would be attacked too.

"They're all fine, they're at one of the Order's safe houses," Hermione promised. Rose's face was cupped by her mother's loving hands and a kiss was placed upon her forehead. "We love you. Please make yourself safe. Promise."

"I promise – " Rose began but her words turned into a scream as a blast was fired in their direction from a Death Eater mid-flight. The impact broke the castle wall beside them. Rose was sent flying away from her parents and onto the grass of the Hogwarts grounds a few yards away from the force of the blast. The young witch spluttered for a moment and gasped for breath, the air briefly knocked out of her lungs. There was a high-pitched ringing in her ears and her vision momentarily blurred. She slowly sat up to see that her parents were having difficulty getting up from the ground a few feet away, clearly shaken as well. Rose pushed herself off the grass and started sprinting towards her parents, wand still in hand. She needed to help them – save them. The young witch stopped short when a cloud of black smoke careened towards the grass and landed, clearing to reveal the form of a Death Eater. Rose adjusted the grip on her wand and steeled her nerves.

"It's the Weasley brat," the man sneered. He was short and stood with a lopsided posture. His eyes fixed on her; black little beads that shifted quickly.

"The older one," added another voice. Rose momentarily turned her head to see that a lady stalked her from behind. She looked almost identical to the other man and Rose surmised that these two must be the Death Eater siblings she had heard her parents, aunts and uncles talk about; Alecto and Amycus Carrow. She kept her nerves calm.

"What do you want?" she demanded of either sibling. "We've done nothing wrong."

"You've done nothing wrong?" Amycus said with a wheezy laugh. "Brother, did you hear what she said? It's as if her family and their friends weren't responsible for us rotting in jail for just about twenty years."

"But we're out now – we all broke out!" Alecto said with glee. "And now we can teach this little brat that she needs to be taught respect for her superiors. Did you know that we used to be professors here, girl? What we would do to students when they were talking to us like you just did? You're lucky we don't cut off your tongue!"

"Oh, we'll do more than that with her," Amycus added and Rose turned to face the older witch. "She'll be dogfood for the werewolves when we're done. We'll make her parents watch – "

Rose had mastered the art of silent spells and charms. She sent Amycus flying with a Stunning spell and turned to face Alecto, but she wasn't quick enough. He had his wand raised directly at her and snarled the word, "Crucio!"

Pain. Intense pain. It was as if she was ripping in half. Rose felt herself fall to the ground and begin to writhe, she heard herself screaming but it was as if she was experiencing it through someone else's eyes. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she felt her wand fall from her hand, her back arching up off the grass as she howled in pain. She watched as Alecto moved to stand over her, his wand pointed directly between in her eyes, his body blocked the sunlight.

" _Crucio!"_ he repeated, this time in a scream, and intense pain ripped through her body once more. Rose flailed on the grass, unable to stop him, unable to say anything. She closed her eyes as she screamed through the pain once more, not knowing how much more she could take. She felt warmth on her face and knew that her nose was bleeding from the pressure, probably dripping across her cheek. She closed her eyes and waited for Alecto Carrow to cast the Killing Curse and just end her in that moment.

But then she heard a shout and saw a flash of green light. Her pain immediately stopped. Before she registered what was happening, she felt a hand under her head, cradling her like she was infant. Someone's figure appeared once more above hers to block out the sun's rays. It was Scorpius Malfoy.

"You're alright now, Rose, you're okay?" he said; grey eyes searched her face. She couldn't tell if he was asking her if she was okay or telling her she was. His free hand patted down her sides as he assessed for broken bones or injuries. Rose pushed his hand away from her body and attempted to sit up; her arms went up around his neck for leverage. The wizard lifted her up into a standing position easily and used a Summoning charm to get her wand out of the grass.

"We have to move, Rose, okay? I reckon we get to the gates and we can Apparate somewhere safe. But you need to move with me – can you do that?" Rose only nodded and allowed Scorpius to help her move along. She was aware that she started walking, almost jogging, with the support of Scorpius' arm across her lower back to keep her upright. They had to step over large masses in the grass and Rose realized with horror and shock that they were the bodies of Alecto and Amycus. She looked up at Scorpius' face but he said nothing and continued to help her along. Her eyes widened in fear as she thought of something – someone.

"What about Albus?" she asked in sudden panic. Scorpius smirked.

" _He_ gets to be the lucky sod that gets to fight. _I_ on the other hand have been instructed to get you to safety. And you _would_ be the one to go and almost get yourself killed in the first five minutes of the battle," he said. He tried to sound condescending but his tone was too warm for that. Still, he had the same look her father had had, the determination - he didn't take his eyes off the ground's gates. "Move, Rose."

Another blast, not unlike the one that had blown up part of the castle wall, ripped through the ground immediately in front of them and Rose and Scorpius were thrown away from one another. Rose landed once more on the grass with a hard thud and cried out in pain as she fought to get up. Through the high-pitched ringing that sounded in her ears once more, she could see a black plume of smoke as it careened out of the sky, towards Scorpius. Rose scrambled to her feet, pain forgotten, and reached for her wand. She pointed at the black plume as they extended their hand, wand directed at Scorpius' body.

"No!" she screamed; a Stinging jinx flew from the tip of her hand and landed in the middle of the black plume. The smoke immediately dissipated and the body of another Death Eater fell to the ground. The victim of Rose's jinx began to cry out in pain as they clutched at their face.

"What the bloody hell did you do to me?" the man snarled as Rose rushed forward to help Scorpius off the ground. When he was standing and supported, they went over to the Death Eater's side. Rose reached down and broke the wizard's wand. She recognized the man's face; he was a father of a current Slytherin student.

Her jinx had made his face swell up, redden with a branded mark and sting with the intensity of many scorpions but Rose could still identify him. "It's Mr. Goyle, your dad's friend," she said. "His school friend."

"Draco Malfoy wasn't my friend," Gregory Goyle spat out; he struggled to speak past his swelling lips. "He was traitor and a damned liar – he can rot as far as I fucking care." He reached up to swipe at Rose but Scorpius pulled her back, his hands gentle yet firm upon her arms.

"You're right," Scorpius agreed as he stared into the eyes of the older wizard. "My father did not have any friends – just people that were content to stay in his shadow and work off of his successes. And in the end, you killed the innocent – he didn't. I guess you finally broke out of his shadow and made a mark of your own." He leaned down so his face was close to Goyle's. "I'm going to make sure you never harm anyone ever again." He stood back up and made to raise his wand but Rose stopped him, her hand moved to rest on his wrist.

"If you kill him, his daughter doesn't have a father anymore," she pointed out. Scorpius' gaze was cold.

"Did she anyway? He's been in Azkaban her whole life, I doubt that she even thinks about him." Rose pushed Scorpius' arm lower.

"Leave him," she instructed. "You wouldn't be any better than him if you did what your heart was telling you to do right now. Can we please just go?" Her words worked on Scorpius and he backed away, lowering his wand. As they turned to go, Rose turned back around and summoned a Bat-Bogey Hex. By now, Goyle was hardly recognizable – his head resembled a tomato with barely any discernable features to identify him as a human man. But bats now dripped and scratched their way out of his nose. She then grabbed Scorpius' arm and pulled him away from the older wizard.

"You little bitch!" Goyle screamed, his cries somewhat muffled as the Stinging Jinx was starting to close his throat. "You'll fucking pay for this – your whole bloody family will!"

Rose and Scorpius broke into a run. Rose's heart pounded in time with her footsteps as she moved across the grass. A Death Eater passed overhead on a broomstick, shooting fireballs at whomever they wanted upon the ground below. Rose and Scorpius both saw the attack and shouted, "Aqua Eructo!" in unison. Jets of clear water shot from the tips of their wands and steam surrounded the two as the fireballs were extinguished. They never stopped running and didn't bother to see where that Death Eater's new location was; the only thing that mattered was the gates.

They pushed through and only stopped running past the wrought iron enchanted doors when they were in the cover of a few trees. Scorpius quickly checked over their shoulder to make sure they hadn't been followed – there were a few footsteps on the path, hurried and messy. People had escaped down the little road to Hogsmeade Village. When they both agreed they were safe, Scorpius tucked his wand into the pocket of his graduation robes.

"Alright, take my hands," he said with a sort of a huff. "Come on, Rose, quickly!" The witch stuffed her wand into her robes as well and fervently put her hands in his. She sucked in a deep breath, terrified and confused with everything that had just happened. They could still hear what was going on the grounds of the castle; explosions blasting, the sounds of screams, the sounds of cheers when a Death Eater was defeated – it was constant noise. Rose bit her lip and looked up at Scorpius, her blue eyes locked on his grey.

"Get me out of here," she urged before shutting her eyes tight. She prepared herself for the sensation of Apparition and there it was, the hard suction just below her navel. Her world dissolved to blackness as she was sucked into the void of time and space with Scorpius Malfoy. They were together now and had to keep each other safe. And for now, keeping each other safe was her only priority.


End file.
